The White House Initiative on HBCUs annual conference is scheduled for September 17-19. However, stakeholders within the historically Black colleges and universities community, have requested that the conference be postponed. They cite the fact that an executive director has yet to be announced and many have begun to question whether the Trump administration will be a strong advocate for HBCUs.
In a letter addressed to President Trump, U.S. Rep. Alma Adams –who serves as HBCU Caucus Chair — and other members of Congress detailed their argument for postponing the conference.
“Earlier this month, my colleagues and I asked the administration for an update on their progress regarding HBCUs,” says Adams, a North Carolina Democrat. Adams noted that in February, the president signed an executive order outlining greater investments and additional resources for HBCUs.
“It has become painstakingly clear that these promises are not being kept,” Adams stated in the letter. “In this current environment, and with zero progress made on any of their priorities, it would be highly unproductive to ask HBCU presidents to come back to Washington.”
Adams called upon President Trump and Secretary Betsy DeVos to postpone this year’s conference “until a serious effort has been made to advance issues important to HBCUs and their students.”
The conference, which is to be held in Arlington, Virginia, is a chance for HBCUs to commune while lobbying for more access to federal funding, research opportunities and internships for students. However, some HBCU leaders have become leery of attending because of the lack of a director combined with the president’s recent remarks in response regarding protests and attacks in Charlottesville, Virginia, that were perceived by many to be pandering to White supremacists.
Johnny Taylor, president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), who was out of the country and unavailable to provide further comment, has submitted a letter to Trump liaison Omarosa Manigault-Newman, suggesting a postponement. Taylor contends that the efforts and opportunities of the conference “may be overshadowed by compelling stakeholder concerns related to recent national events, ultimately making the conference counterproductive.” Taylor also says that a number of HBCU leaders who were planning to attend will no longer be present at the conference.
